RUTA PALIONYTE
light designer-artist
Soft Solids
"Soft Solids" lighting series explore the intentional use and repurposing of natural materials, reflecting on the potential for regeneration within design practice. The incorporation of wax in crafting light objects introduces distinctive characteristics – its capacity to transform from a shapeless mass into a tangible form and revert to a flexible or even fluid state.
A blend of natural materials, including stearin (one of the most common naturally occurring saturated fatty acids) and soy wax (made from soybean oil), encodes environmentally friendly renewal processes and actions of responsible consumption to satisfy personal needs. This mixture of the two materials, chosen for their specific properties, gives the "soft solids" the required resistance, strength, and colour.
Wax is used not only to shape the light shades, but also for the modular installation, making it convenient for adaptation in various spaces by changing its form or scale. Despite illumination, the light installation embodies symbolic meaning representing the processes of growth and regeneration occurring in nature.
Natural wax, resembling plastic in appearance, adopts biomorphic forms and the emitted blue, green, and off-white light allude to natural entities or phenomena. The nature of wax accentuates the potential within the design process, combining various manufacturing methods such as handcraft, digital 3D modelling, and creative recycling (upcycling).
Upcycling within the "Soft Solids" exhibition involves the creative integration of components and elements sourced from the collected parts of the luminaires, primarily designed in the 20th century, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, originating from diverse countries such as Sweden, Italy, and the former Czechoslovakia.
The fusion of new elements, crafted from natural wax, with existing ones, including metal and glass components, weaves a narrative of nostalgia, grounded in the present, yet projecting towards the future. This approach pays tribute to creative individuality, revitalising vintage objects with fresh energy and encouraging viewers to recognise their original designs while appreciating their transformed states.
The „Soft Solids“ explore a balance of resistance and fragility, functionality, and sustainable adaptability within the object. They raise questions about the potential implications of adopting a "soft solid" strategy in contemporary design and consumer behaviour.
Soft Solids lighting series are created in collaboration with arch. Ieva Baranauskaite. Photos by Norbert Tukaj.
With the support of:
